Monster Hunter: World is coming out in a little over two weeks, marking the first time since 2012 that a main entry in the series would be available on something other than a handheld. For those on the PS4 and Xbox One, these next two weeks will be a painful one as they wait for the game to finally arrive; for those on the PC, however, the recently announced delay means that those same two weeks is the start of a multi-month ordeal. And while there appears to be nothing they can do about it, they could at least take some solace in now knowing why.
In a recent interview with GamesRadar (as reported by PCGamer), producer Ryozo Tsujimoto revealed why Monster Hunter: World is marked for an Autumn 2018 release, citing his team’s general inexperience with PCs.
He begins:
“For the main Monster Hunter game, this is our first PC title and it’s something we want to make sure we get right. So rather than have it taking up resources during the console development and not it not being able to have our full attention on it. We want to get console out the door and then we’re going to take some extra time and try and get the PC version as good as possible.
Indeed, this is a legitimate concern. As stated before, Monster Hunter: World is the first time the series will abandon handhelds entirely in order to cater to wider audience. If Capcom intends to continue releasing Monster Hunter titles in this manner and encourage both new and old fans alike to support them, then it needs to ensure that everyone’s first impression is a good one.
Tsujimoto continues:
“There’s extra work you need for PC as well. On console you use first party matchmaking, you just kind of plug into it, whether it’s PSN or Xbox Live, but on PC we’re going to have to work more to get our own matchmaking working. So, hopefully, PC users won’t mind waiting a little bit longer for us to bring you a really great optimized PC experience.”
Again, this is important, but it’s particularly important to Capcom. Though the company overall is no stranger to PCs, you wouldn’t actually know this by looking at how some of its more recent titles handle online. In fact, Street Fighter V is notorious for its poor netcode and some fans remain skeptical about SFV: AE since Capcom has made no mention about it intends to tackle that issue. Seeing that the Monster Hunter team is taking its foray onto PC seriously is encouraging.
All in all, while its unfortunate that the PC version of Monster Hunter: World has been delayed, knowing that it has been done to make sure that it is “as good as possible” is fantastic. Now, all that’s left is to see whether all that extra time will be worth it.
Monster Hunter: World is due out for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on Jan. 26, while it is expected to arrive on the PC in “Autumn 2018.”
Check out the original report here.
Published: Jan 10, 2018 02:38 pm